It was a really happening weekend for me. The Sharjah Book Fair opened to the public over the weekend, and I went there on Friday and Saturday. The Friday agenda was to attend my dear blogger friend Faji’s book launch. Yes, she is finally an author of her own cookbook, Faji’s HotPot. I was anyway going, but in the afternoon, I was greeted by a message from her and her husband, insisting that I be the first purchase at the launch. I was totally overwhelmed but anyway, accepted it, thinking it would be fine. Least did I expect that I would be called to share stage and talk a few words! It did make me a nervous wreck altogether – I have a fear of public speaking, though I have been into it at school and college – feels like eons now! 😀 We had an amazing function, Fajee…
Paneer Matar Masala | Matar Paneer
For this week’s Blogging Marathon #93, the theme I had chosen was “One Ingredient – 3 ways” and the ingredient I chose was “paneer”. After the first recipe of the Kadai Paneer, here is another paneer gravy. If you really go to see, there is one standard way of making paneer gravies. A ground paste of onion and tomato is used as a base and the seasonings are adjusted as per your needs. Since paneer in itself is rich, you can skip the use of cream in the gravy. But to make paneer taste and look more tempting, the use of cream or yogurt – to make it more guilt free – is always recommended. I would like to emphasis on the use of kasuri methi. A sprinkling of crushed kasuri methi just lifts up the whole spirit of a simple paneer dish. So whatever said and done,…
Vegetable Kurma | Cheat Version!
With life getting so hectic, cooking has taken a back seat. I do a lot of meal prepping for myself and for the family, I settle down with meals that are really easy to cook. I am trying to update some 30 minute meals on this blog and hopefully will try to update my old posts with the tag so that I can feature it on my sidebar for easy review, InShaAllah. There’s a lot of polishing to be done on my old posts, I will slowly work on that part and try to update all the categories and tags by the end of this year. I am hoping I will be able to look into those by slowing down on my blogging. Let’s see… 🙂 Meanwhile, bringing you one of the best easy fix curries I have made… There was this blog called Chef El Dente that…
Baked Yogurt Curry Chicken
I love quick fix meals. All of you must be knowing it if you are regular readers of my blog. Anything that just needs a mix and cook qualifies as a super easy meal for me. I found this recipe in the same booklet which had the Malai Chicken recipe. I have been eyeing it for so long, but I have no clue why I didn’t try it earlier. I truly believe now everything has a time, right… 🙂 The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t have to slog in the kitchen for too long. We are having peak summers and standing in the kitchen is becoming a nightmare. I haven’t experienced this kind of heatwave in all these years. I am attributing my hotter-than-usual kitchen to the construction that is happening in the little stretch facing the area. It used to be an open car…
Muringakaaya Chelli Parippu Curry ~ Malabar Drumstick Lentil Curry with Dried Shrimp
Time for the second week of the Blogging Marathon #88! After choosing “Protien Rich Ingredient” as the first theme, where I chose eggs, and featured Double Cheese Omelette, Akuri and Microwave Omelette, the second week theme that I chose was also another protien ingredient – “Dazzling Dals”. I had already done a lentil theme in one of the previous BM edition, but then lentil recipes are never enough, right? We are always looking at new ways of cooking up lentils so that people who have folks like me at home who frown at the sight of lentils will at least eat them without much fuss. 😀 The first recipe I am featuring is an example of how we Malabaris love to add a non-vegetarian twist to our vegetarian dishes. Hehe… Most of the households will have a little jar of “chelli” (ചെള്ളി) in our pantry. It is basically…
Marrag Samak ~ Emirati Fish Stew
I have had a slightly messed up April. From the beginning of this year, I have been following a schedule to ensure that I work on my postings and used to stick to it. I did the same thing for April as well, but in between, I had a slag in my mood. Somehow, all of a sudden, I really didn’t want to blog or do anything related to the blog. That converted me who is such a stickler to my plans to somebody who didn’t really bother about it. But then it is people who go through the same stress as yours who understand how it feels to blog and to not blog. A little chat with Shanaz literally pepped me up to continue with my blogging. I am hoping that the mood does hold on for some time at least! 🙂 It’s been sometime since I…
Instant Sambar
I really don’t understand why weekends wear skate boards. Or maybe something faster than that! 😕 They just come and go, with things done half and Saturday nights is for yearning and wishing I had more time. If anybody asks me what did I do over the weekend, I did nothing much but I still did something. Some shopping, sat simply at home working on the old posts on the blog, and then visited a friend of mine – I guess that does sound like a decently packed weekend! I guess I need to learn how to space out my time so that I don’t feel drained… hmm… Coming to today’s recipe… I had already mentioned how crazy my girls are for idlis. Leftover batter is usually loosened out and converted to dosas. Most of the time, my girls need it only with their favorite coconut chutney, but…
Caril De Galinha ~ Goan Chicken Curry
It’s been a real long time since I participated in the Sshh Cooking Challenge. Recently, to make it interesting, the challenge had started exploring state wise and started from A. Though I would have loved to be a part of it, my family isn’t very receptive to all kind of foods and also, my time is becoming really tight of late, so I decided to give the challenge a break. Mayuriji was very understanding, and I did mention that when I felt like it, I would be part of the challenge. This month, it was Goa and I was in two minds. I hadn’t signed up initially but then it happened that there was one extra participant without a partner, and without thinking two times, I jumped in. I am glad that I did! 😀 Like I mentioned, this month, we are exploring Goan cuisine. Goa needs no…
Murgir Khorma ~ Bangladeshi Chicken Korma
One tenth to the next tenth just flies, I feel. 😀 I feel like I posted my last MFB post yesterday… hehe… This month, the theme was cooking from a country, and the chosen country was Bangladesh, which happens to be the third largest Muslim country in case of percentage. There is a lot of similarity between the food from this country and West Bengal, which is a state in India that shares its borders with Bangladesh. I kept searching up and down, as I wanted to make sure I cook up something easy and do not miss the challenge at all. A little peak into history and we will know that Bangladesh once belonged to the Mughal dynasty. It was a part of the India when the Britishers ruled it and then went to Pakistan when the declaration of independence was made in August 1947, when the…
Bhindi Do Pyaza ~ Okra Onion Stir Fry
Hasn’t it been ages since I shared a quote on the blog? Hmm… So let’s break the ice! I have been in this kind of a feeling for quite some days now. Life does get very stressful even though you want to take it slow. Sometimes, you really don’t know how to go slow too… That’s the condition I am in at the moment. With having started working out, weekdays are really hectic. I get home late and don’t know how time flies before I finally hit the bed. The best part is I sleep like a log, waking up only when the alarm rings. 😀 Anyway, at times, I don’t seem to like the fast pace, but I am trying my best to put less pressure on myself. InShaAllah, some day I will be able to go on with the slow pace of life… 🙂 Sharing with…
Kukul Mas Curry ~ Sri Lankan Chicken Curry
When the themes for the Blogging Marathon #84 were declared, I didn’t think twice about the second theme to choose. It had to be “Sinhalese Cuisine”. There was a little confusion when I started with it. We know Sri Lanka as a country, but a little digging indicated that Sinhalese are the largest portion of people in Sri Lanka, and they are Buddhist. Their food reigns majority in the country. There are then the Tamils and the Muslims who have slightly varied ways of cooking. Sounds similar to how it is in Kerala too! So having cleared up the confusion of what cuisine I can look for, I ended up getting so confused with what I should be trying. Somehow the first to catch my attention was their chicken curry and I had to make it. Though the curry feels so much like our style, it is different in…
Jaisalmer Chana ~ Black Chickpeas Yogurt Curry
I have never known cooking black chickpeas rather than in this way that we make for puttu. This curry was a perfect discovery for my lazy bone. Apart from the cooking time of the chick peas, the whole curry comes through in hardly any time. Jaisalmer is a small town in the northern state of Rajasthan. I have read that Rajasthanis love using chickpea flour, known as besan, in many of their dishes they cook. It is no surprise that yogurt is added to this curry, since Rajasthan is a hot place with high temperatures – boasts of India’s largest dessert too – and yogurt is one calming, cooling food for sure. Apart from the soaking time for the black chick peas, there is hardly any cooking involved. There is no onion or tomatoes in this recipe, so you don’t need to do any chopping. The spices and…
Bandhakopir Tarkari/ Dalna/ Ghonto ~ Bengal Cabbage Potato Curry
I used to always crib how boring a vegetable cabbage is. The only we have eaten it when we were growing up was in the form of this upperi. Blogging has allowed me to explore ways of using up this vegetable in ways other than the upperi. That is when I ended up discovering the cabbage capsicum masala and the chana dal sabzi. This is another way that I found out that belongs to our Bengali counterparts. A Bengali ex-colleague would say that Kerala and Bengal are similar, in terms of communism, fish and coconut! To some extend, I do find it true. I have been really tempted to try some of their foods but never got a chance as such. Let this be my first one and hopefully the start to many! I love that the cabbage is paired with my favorite potato and potatoes can never…
Dal Tadka ~ Tempered Lentil Stew
After a little break, it is good to come to the participating in the Blogging Marathon, in its edition #81. Last month, the group had done a mega marathon over the theme “Protein Based Dishes” and there were some amazing recipes that came up in the process. I am still happy to keep going with doing two BM themes per month, since I find it much easier to manage and keep blogging at peace. 🙂 For this week, the theme I have chosen is “Lentil Sides”. Lentils are a major source of proteins as far as vegetarians are concerned, and otherwise a source of some comfort food for many! A simple meal of lentils and rice can give you a feeling that no lavish meal can provide! I am sure many will agree to this. 🙂 One of the most prepared lentil curries in India is called “Dal…
Cauliflower Gashi ~ Mangalore Cauliflower Curry
It’s the last Saturday of the month and time for the book review! This is one segment I am trying to ensure that I continue with it, so that I get a chance to touch all my cookbooks. 😉 I hope you are all enjoying the book reviews, since I do get a lot of questions about the cookbooks I own and my opinions about them. I guess this answers a lot of those queries. 🙂 This month, I thought I will come back to a book that is one of the early cookbooks I bought. “50 Great Curries of India” by Camelia Punjabi doesn’t need much introduction. Like the name suggests, the book includes fifty recipes from various parts of India. The book is published by Motivate Publishing, which is based in UAE. I bought this book during the Sharjah Book Fair way back in 2012. It…